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Checklist Never release your aquarium How to care for... Before purchase make sure that: animals or plants into the wild Never release an animal or plant bought for a home aquarium into the wild. It is illegal and for most fish species 1 You have the appropriate equipment and position for the aquarium. this will lead to an untimely and possibly lingering death because they are not native to this country. Any animals or You have researched all the species you are interested plants that do survive might be harmful to the environment. Fancy 2 in and your final choices are all compatible. You are familiar with how to transport and release Important things to remember 3 Always buy... your fish. test kits and regularly check the water for ammonia, nitrite, goldfish nitrate and pH. This will allow you to make sure the water in You are aware of the daily, weekly and monthly 4 your aquarium is not causing welfare problems for your fish. maintenance your aquarium will require. Establish a routine... 5 You are prepared to look after your fish properly for for testing the water in your aquarium. Record your results the duration of their life. to enable you to highlight fluctuations quickly. Also check 11 Coldwater fish the temperature of the water. Equipment Maintain... 1 Glass or plastic aquarium the water in the aquarium within the accepted parameters highlighted in this leaflet. You may need to do regular water Gravel cleaner changes to achieve this. 2 3 Water testing kit Always wash your hands... 4 Tap water conditioner making sure to rinse off all soap residues, before putting them into your aquarium. Wash your hands again afterwards 5 Gravel or other suitable substrate and certainly before eating, drinking or smoking. 6 Filter 7 Food—ensure variety Never siphon by mouth... A fish tank can harbour bacteria which can be harmful if Before purchase make sure: swallowed. Buy a specially designed aquarium gravel cleaner which can be started without the need to place the siphon in your mouth. 1 The aquarium is of a suitable size 2 Water parameters are as advised in this leaflet. Scan this code to If in doubt contact download an your OATA electronic copy retail member for further information Photo courtesy of A Valovec May 2013 © Copyright OATA Ltd 2010 Introduction Aquarium requirements Feeding Fancy goldfish like Orandas, Black Moors and Ryukins are all While fancy goldfish can be kept in a small aquarium when they are Like common goldfish, fancy goldfish are opportunistic feeders the same species of fish as common goldfish, Carassius auratus. young, be prepared to get a larger aquarium as they grow. A larger and appear to have insatiable appetites. Over-feeding can be All of these varieties are the result of centuries of careful aquarium has the extra benefit of allowing you to keep more fish avoided by feeding once or twice a day with what they can eat selective breeding to emphasise certain traits. and allows for more stable water quality. Whatever the size of in no more than a minute or so. Excess food should always be aquarium, a filter must always be used. All the fancy breeds prefer a removed immediately to avoid polluting the water. Fancy goldfish are more delicate than common goldfish and gentle current, so make sure that the filter’s output is not too require greater care to keep them successfully. To achieve this, powerful, or is evenly distributed throughout the aquaria by use of A goldfish flake or pellet food can be used as a staple diet, but they are best kept in indoor aquaria only. As with all fish, a spray bar if possible. add variety by providing a selection live or frozen foods such as maintaining good water quality is essential for their health, but daphnia, bloodworm or brine shrimp. Vegetable matter can be also make sure their habitat, diet and companions are Aquarium gravel or other suitable substrate should be used to cover provided in the form of aquatic plants, blanched lettuce or compatible with their needs. the bottom of the aquarium and will help to anchor plants and thawed and shelled frozen peas. A good and varied diet can ornaments in place. When buying gravel, speak to your retailer to prevent associated buoyancy problems, and will also promote a ensure that you buy the correct size to avoid the goldfish strong and healthy immune system to fight off infectious Water requirements accidentally ingesting it. If you want to decorate the aquarium with diseases. Fancy goldfish are intolerant of poor water conditions. It is artificial plants, add some live aquatic plants too. Plants and algae recommended the water parameters stay within the following can play an important part in fancy goldfish nutrition which is a key guidelines although they can acclimatise to a wider range of to keeping them healthy. Common problems temperature, pH and hardness over a period: Water quality problems will affect fish behaviour and can be Temperature: between 4-25°C, ideally between 15-23°C (the All ornaments, including artificial plants, should be chosen carefully. shown by clamped fins, reduced feeding, erratic swimming and aquarium should be kept away from heat and draughts to Avoid those with sharp or very rough surfaces so as to prevent gasping at the surface. Immediately test the water if any of these reduce fluctuations) injuring breeds that have protruding eyes such as Celestials, symptoms are shown. pH: 6.0-8.0 Telescope-eyed breeds. Ammonia: 0mg/l (0.02mg/l may be tolerated for short periods) Good water quality and a healthy, varied diet can help prevent Nitrite: 0mg/l (0.2mg/l may be tolerated for short periods) A heater is not required for fancy goldfish unless they are kept in a many diseases in goldfish such as fungal or bacterial infections Hardness: moderately soft - hard (5-19°dH) very cold room. Although goldfish are coldwater fish, they do not and swim bladder problems. tolerate rapid fluctuations in their water temperature as these can cause stress leading to disease. Keep the aquarium out of draughts In hooded breeds, such as Lionheads, Orandas and Ranchus Biology and away from sources of excess heat. small, white, fluffy patches within the creases of the hood are The fundamental characteristics of fancy goldfish and common sometimes seen. Normally, this is just sloughed material and goldfish are actually very similar. Many of the fancy goldfish mucus and should fade with time. However, reddened or have a squatter appearance and do not get as large as common Maintenance extensive areas of these patches that persist might require goldfish, usually growing no larger than 20 cms. Their lifespan At least once every two weeks, a partial water change of 25-30% is treatment. If in doubt, ask your retailer for further advice. is approximately 6 to 8 years, but some have been recorded to strongly recommended (a gravel cleaner is useful to remove waste live for 20 years. from the gravel). The water should be tested regularly to ensure pollutants such as ammonia and nitrites don’t build up. Ensure you treat all replacement water with tap water conditioner or allow the Compatibility The position and shape of their swim bladder is different from All varieties of fancy goldfish will normally live together happily. that of a common goldfish. This on its own causes no replacement water to stand or aerate it to remove any chlorine present before adding it to the aquarium. If you wish to add any other species, ask advice from your problems, but an improper diet can lead to buoyancy problems retailer. by preventing the swim bladder from functioning correctly. Filters should be checked for clogging and blockages. If the filter It is not advisable to keep fancy varieties with Shubunkins, One feature that fancy goldfish retain from their common needs cleaning, then do not run it under the tap as any chlorine present may kill the beneficial bacterial population that has comet or common goldfish. More often than not, the breeds goldfish ancestry is tubercles. These are small white pimples can out-compete the fancy goldfish for food. In some cases that develop on the gill covers of males as they approach breed- established in the media. Instead, it can be rinsed in the tank water which is removed during a partial water change as this reduces the there are reports of boisterous comets fin nipping the slower ing condition, and should not be confused with the white spot swimming fancy varieties. parasite which appears all over the body. amount of bacteria which are lost. Good husbandry is essential as these fish can be stressed by even the smallest amounts of ammonia and nitrite. Test the water to Breeding monitor the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels every week, Fancy goldfish can be bred in captivity. They are egg scatterers especially during initial set-up and after adding extra fish. and the eggs must be removed from the aquarium to avoid predation. The eggs normally hatch after about 3 days, but this is also depends on temperature. .
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